Boat capsizes in Tomales Bay

By

Light Staff

11/10/2011

Three men aboard a 20-foot cabin cruiser were thrown into 52-degree Tomales Bay waters last Friday morning when engines failed and the vessel capsized about a mille off shore. A Good Samaritan boater, who responded to distress calls issued on channel 9, hoisted the men into his boat before the Coast Guard arrived on scene and took them back to the Bodega Bay station to be treated by local paramedics. The men waded in the bay for about 15 minutes without lifejackets, but no injuries were reported. “They got set parallel to the seas and got swamped,” Petty Officer Robert Paulino said. “A wave came and that helped turn the boat.” The Coast Guard was not first to respond because the calls were not issued on channel 16, the official distress line, and the station learned of the accident from a call by the other boater after it occurred. The crew righted and dewatered the cruiser and towed it back to the boat landing in Bodega.